Tirana, Albania

Here we are on another manuscript photography expedition. This week we are in Tirana, Albania working at the National Archives. We are mainly working on photographing hard-to-read manuscripts with ultraviolet light. So far everything is going well. The people here are very friendly and helpful. Tonight after work we had dinner in town near a local park. There were families out everywhere enjoying the nice weather and having dinner outside. Tomorrow we go back to work taking more pictures. The work is tedious and long but extremely rewarding when we see text in a manuscript that has not been seen for centuries... very cool!

Another Expedition Begins

I had an extremely busy spring semester with finishing school. I took 12 hours last semester including a class in Biblical Aramaic. I guess that's the main reason I haven't posted anything since December. I have finally graduated from DTS with a ThM in New Testament Studies. Since graduation, I've been consumed with getting ready for another photography expedition. This year we'll be in Albania first then on to Greece. I'll try to post news and pictures from the trip as I get access to the Internet. I'm really excited that we will be going back to Patmos to photograph manuscripts. It will also be good to see the people that we know there. In the mean time, there is lots of packing and preparation to do.

I'm Still Around...

...but just barely. It has been a really busy couple of months. For starters, I had way too many hours in progress in school. I just completed 4 classes, an independent study, and the final draft of my thesis. On-campus classes finished last week, on Monday I turned in the final draft of my thesis, and early this morning I finished my independent study and an online class. It doesn't really even feel like I have finished the semester, some of which started last spring. Now I turn to my final Th.M. classes. I have a 1 week winter class in January then I turn around an take 4 more in the spring... and that's it. Only 5 more classes and I'll graduate!

In the spring I'll be taking a new language, Aramaic. I'm looking forward to learning it since parts of Amos and Daniel were written in Aramaic. It will also be helpful in New Testament studies. Fortunately it is enough like Hebrew that some of the vocabulary is the same.

For now I can turn to Christmas. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and getting some rest. I think I'll take Ashley and the boys out Friday or Saturday night to look at Christmas lights. That always puts me in the Christmas spirit.